


Reconciliation and Return - Part 2

by godsdaisiechain (preux)



Series: Reconciliation and Return [2]
Category: Ancient Egyptian RPF, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Greek and Roman Mythology, Norse Religion & Lore, Torchwood
Genre: Jack Harkness is the Face of Boe, M/M, Pheromones, The 456, jammy dodgers, worthiness to be immortal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-21
Updated: 2016-10-22
Packaged: 2018-08-10 05:04:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 20
Words: 12,709
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7831387
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/preux/pseuds/godsdaisiechain
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is an AU in which the Face of Boe asks John Hart to go back in time to rescue Ianto from the 4-5-6 virus.  He also makes a second Jack Harkness out of the bits and pieces left over in the Torchwood explosion during CoE.</p><p>Our story reopens as John and Ianto watch the two halves of Jack Harkness meet each other for the first time.   Jack is very, very taken with himself.</p><p>Meanwhile, the Face of Boe has another mission for John Hart--to contain the horrible creatures who attacked the Boeshane Peninsula. Ianto tags along to help. Nut, goddess of the sky, must find a way to help them and Jack.</p><p>This is a continuation of Reconciliation and Return Part 1.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A wild few months

**Author's Note:**

> I've added more material to explain how John and Ianto wind up shagging. Chapters 6 and 7 are new...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> John considers the last few months while he and Ianto watch the two halves of Jack meet each other for the first time.
> 
> Jack is very, very taken with himself. John looks after Ianto, just as Jack had asked him to, but things may be more sensitive than he thought.

It had been a wild few months for John Hart. Jack had come back to him, so terribly broken, reeling from the loss of Eye Candy and then his ghost.  All John could think to do was to find the oldest and wisest being in the universe and ask for help.  He’d found the Face of Boe, who set him out on a series of tasks, terrible ordeals, the sorts of things asked of gods and heroes, not of deeply flawed and imperfect creatures like him, John Hart, who was neither a hero nor a god.

John had done everything the Face of Boe had asked of him. Saved Ianto Jones from death, even at the risk of his own life, cared for him while he regained his health.  Gone back in time to scrape together a Jack Harkness from the scraps and bits leftover from an explosion. Stayed with Ianto while that Jack went after his brother, Grey. 

Then John went to the 4-5-6, again as the Face of Boe asked, and the broken Jack had gone back to Torchwood.  Things became terribly confused with two Jacks running about.  Finally, Ianto had brought the two Jacks together.

They had come together, John and Ianto and Jack and Jack, and kissed goodbye, thinking that Jack would join (or not) and make a choice, choose John or choose Ianto as a lover (or perhaps both).  But that didn't happen.  Jack, who had never had the experience of his own pheromones, had fallen into a sort of trance at that heady scent.

Ianto met John’s eye as Jacks #1 and #2 locked lips and started tearing at each others’ clothes. 

“That was unanticipated,” Ianto said, in the ironic deadpan voice, the one John could never quite decipher.  “It’s a bit of a letdown, actually. Everything seemed rather solemn coming up to this point.” 

“Does that count as cheating or whacking off?” John wanted to know.  “I’m not usually all that bothered about monogamy myself, but it’s an interesting question. Theoretically.”

“No idea,” said Ianto, who appeared to be bothered. By monogamy or something else, John didn’t know. “Although I am….”  Ianto’s voice caught in his throat, and John felt a melting sensation.  He’d developed quite a soft spot for Ianto; even Jack had noticed, in a fond, indulgent sort of way that John took for permission to woo him.  John took Ianto’s arm and pulled him so he couldn’t see what Jack was doing.

“Don’t look if it upsets you, Eye Candy.  How about we get a nice takeaway?” John asked, feeling ridiculously nervous, much more nervous than he should have felt suggesting a simple meal. “I’m famished, and I think they might need some privacy.”

“No,” said Ianto and John’s heart fell, much further than it should have.  “If you’re asking me to dinner, we’re going to a proper place with tablecloths and you’re not to flirt with anyone.”

John nodded, feeling his heart settle back into its accustomed place.  “Fair enough, Eye Candy.  Does French suit you?”

“Yes, thank you,” said Ianto.  He turned and saw the two Jacks, who had gotten their shirts off, but John pulled him away again.  Jack had asked him to look after Ianto and look after Ianto he would do.

“Get out of here,” John said, setting a hand at the small of Ianto's back and pushing lightly.  “I’ll set up the force field for them, leave them some supplies and a tent.”

Ianto looked as if he could have hugged John, but he didn’t.  “Thanks,” Ianto said. 

 


	2. Meanwhile -or- Nut's decision

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this part of the story, the gods and goddesses of the ancient world have assigned Athena and Freyja to evaluate John and Ianto as possible immortals. Little do they know that Nut has already granted them immortality because the Face of Boe asked her to. All this excitement is in the context of the ongoing goddesses' book group and the Valhalla film festivals.
> 
> Nut considers the best way to help John, Jack and Ianto while gazing into a scrying pool. How Nut originally met the Face of Boe.
> 
> Athena and Freyja stop by. There is giggling and a brief discussion of Harry Potter, the next book in the goddesses book group.

Nut gazed into the scrying pool and caught sight of Jack shagging himself. Jack Harkness interested her, as a man who would later become the Face of Boe, or as she called him, The Enduring One, the oldest and possibly wisest, being in the universe, a being who could pass through time and space at will.  A being she had met accidentally on one of his first explorations of that power, who had allowed her to show him the stars as she knew them, who seemed to know her, to harbor an  affection for her.  It was great honor to be the chosen friend of such a one, even for her. 

It was rare to see two such handsome men together, and Jack’s activities were, as the others had said, extremely innovative, which piqued her interest further. As a goddess of the sky and the long time mate of the god of the earth, Nut had seen many, many things. This sight was rather new in her experience.   

Nut’s brow twitched slightly.  Something was not right.  A certain desperation in Jack’s shagging saddened her.  He was frightened, terribly frightened, because he did not understand what was happening to him.  He did not know who he was, what he was becoming.  He was very young yet.  It was too soon--much too soon--to tell him the truth.  That would keep for thousands of years, long enough for him to begin to understand immortality.

Jack's two chosen lovers were even younger, far too young to know the truth, but Nut had promised The Enduring One to help them. They lived from love, she could see, much like Jack.  She could see why the Enduring One would have chosen these two from among his many lovers.  She would find a way to aid them and they could help the young Jack. 

Then Nut peeked in on the young ones and an amused smiled curved her lips as they dressed, so cautiously, for a dinner together.  How adorable, she thought to herself, this bashfulness from such creatures, two sexual adventurers, bravely able to face down dangerous alien foes. It remained a wonder to her that new love was such a tender thing.  They had disliked each other, very deeply, she could see.

A wall appeared.  Nut didn't react because it was not her way.  Besides, walls generally meant that Athena was coming.  She liked boundaries and clarity.  Athena came soon afterward, her friend Freyja with her, holding hands.  Nut thought they were quite adorable as well.  The elder gods had left her behind with so many youngsters. 

“Have you read the latest scroll for our club?” Nut asked.  “The Harry Potter?” Athena and Freyja dissolved in giggles, which was very unlike their usual serene wisdom (Athena) or restless weeping (Freyja).   “I am pleased that you found it so amusing,” said Nut.

Athena cleared her throat and Freyja straightened her clothing.  “Yes,” said Athena, glancing in the scrying pool as Ianto buttoned a purple shirt. “And we have been working, reviewing the case to allow these two to be immortal.”  Ah.  Nut had forgotten that the younger ones had questioned them, that they did not understand that she had already granted this boon to the Enduring One.

“How does your work progress?” Nut asked.

Freyja and Athena glanced at each other and smiled.  “Well, thank you.  Very well.”  Nut thought they referred to their new carnal knowledge of each other, an awakening certainly for Freyja, whose husband had avoided her for millennia.  “They have done well thus far.”

“Very, very well,” said Freyja.  “Even Odin is impressed with them.”

“Odin?” Nut asked. 

“He spends more time among the mortals than any of the rest of us,” Athena explained.  “He knows how difficult it is for them to do what these two have done.” Nut waited and Athena, who could make Odin quail with a look, continued nervously. “They’ve passed through death and responded with love.  It’s all quite promising.”

Once again, Nut was saddened: to be an object of awe to such a one as Athena was a serious thing and she had little company now that elder gods had begun to pass beyond.  


	3. A proper date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> John and Ianto get dressed up and go out to dinner together. John is pleasantly surprised by a gift from Jack.
> 
> Ianto considers who was really the shag on the side in his relationship with Jack.
> 
> John Hart POV

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In Part 1, Ianto had begun dressing John Hart, starting by tossing his stained T-shirt into the bin.

As it happened, John Hart had never been on a proper date.  Prior events had seemed like dates to him, but he’d been after only one thing, or maybe two, if you counted drugs or a place to stay the night.  With Ianto, it was quite different.  He felt a fluttering in his middle quite unlike what he’d felt waiting for Jack.  He knew Jack had once cared for him, and that he was about to say goodbye, but Ianto’s feelings were more unclear.  As were John's.  An odd mixture of protectiveness and desire, if he thought about it, mixed with a sense of comfortable companionship.

“I have a suit that will fit you,” Ianto offered, when John returned to the flat.  John noted that Ianto did not say that he had spoken with Jack and then purchased the suit intending, once and for all, to eliminate the stained t-shirt from the group of items he had to look at while working.  Although John suspected strongly that this had been the case.

“A suit?”  John paused, considered his stained t-shirt, which he had taken back out of the bin twice now, discarded a few questions. “How would you know…?”  Ianto winked.

“My father ** _was_** a master tailor,” Ianto opened the closet and disclosed a charcoal grey suit, deep red shirt and a dark striped tie. 

“Your sister said he worked at Debenhams,” John fingered the wool.  “Eye Candy, this is a very handsome suit.”

“They’re not mutually exclusive. Changes of fortune and all that.”  He proffered shoes and socks. “It’s a bit of a thank you,” he said.  “Jack… your one…thought you might like it.  I helped him choose.  He said you liked to look well dressed.  Back when he met you.” Ianto moved away, to let John sort through his feelings about this unaccounted thoughtfulness.

When Ianto finished dressing, he looked somehow more resplendent than usual.  “You look wonderful tonight,” said John, yanking unhappily at his tie, which seemed determined to strangle him, an untidy knot settling under his left ear.

“As do you,” said Ianto, straightening the tie, his knuckles against John’s chest.  John felt a surge of desire, but knew better than to say anything.  He settled his trousers and pretended not to notice Ianto pretending not to notice what he was doing.

The food was delectable and the conversation comfortable. They split a bottle of wine, but only the one, and neither got drunk.  They spoke of their childhoods and then about Jack.  “So you were still in love with Lisa when you started up with him?”  John asked. 

“Yes,” said Ianto, surprised.  “I was. Completely and utterly in love with her.”  He sipped his wine. “Rather foolishly, as it happens.”

John fingered the stem of his wineglass, feeling like someone in a film. “So Jack was just _your_ shag on the side at first?”

“I'd never considered that,” said Ianto.  “That he was, well, emotionally, at least at first.  It’s not like I was doing any shagging with Lisa after the Cybermen got hold of her.”

“It must have driven him mad when he found out,” said John, slyly.  Ianto smiled then ducked his head and chuckled. John felt as if his very bones were tingling.  “He always wants to be first, even if he himself is just marking time.”

“Would you have been with him if it hadn’t been for the time loop?”  Ianto asked.  “I mean, did you really fancy him?”

John considered this.  “I don’t know how to answer that. He was my first, in a manner of speaking. We were partners and lovers.  I still love him and I would do anything for him.”

“He was my first too, if you mean what I think you mean.

“How much did you fancy him at first?” John asked. 

“I'd never... It was never men for me,” Ianto said.  “But he was just so… _Jack._ ”  John laughed.  “It wasn’t what I normally would have done.”

“He has that effect on people,” John said. "He certainly did on me."

"Would you like to have a bit of a walk or just go home?” Ianto asked as they left the restaurant.

John’s face took on an insouciant grin. “Are you asking me to join you on a moonlit stroll, Eye Candy?”

“I would like to walk off this dinner, but I could call you a cab,” Ianto said, serious-faced.  Then he winked, so quickly John almost missed it.

“Let’s go back through the park,” John suggested.

The stars were out, and Ianto told John the Welsh myths he knew, the heroes and gods who travelled among the stars.  John told Ianto about the sexual conquests he’d made and confessed to several murders. “It’s terrible, I know, but sometimes it just boils my blood the way criminals feel protected to prey on people.  It’s vigilanteeism, but take your superheroes.  They’re really dark figures.”   John could almost feel Ianto wanting to ask about Jack’s past. 

“So you fancy yourself a sort of superhero?”  Ianto asked, surprising him.  “The Red Jacketed Time Man?”  he sang in an artificially deep voice.

John snorted, and pushed Ianto playfully. “Of course not.  I’m a deeply flawed being.  No one who fancies himself a hero does very much good,” said John, growing serious, almost sheepish.  “I’ve stopped, of course, and we made it out to be more than it was…”  

“I know how much you covered for him,” Ianto said then.  John thought he could feel a sort of tremor in the air. “You gave me his wrist band.”

“I didn’t realize he’d known,” said John. 

As they turned to leave the park, Ianto took John’s arm.  John paused, then closed his hand over Ianto’s.  He was beginning to see something in this delayed gratification business.

 


	4. Hillside adventure

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The two halves of Jack on the hillside consider their options, their supply of jammy dodgers, and the Life Knife.

After their first, stunningly spectacular shag, the two Jacks knew that something awful would have to happen for them to reunite. It was both thrilling and frightening to think that they would have more time together.

They lay with Jack’s head in Jack’s lap, talking, talking, talking.  Neither of them had known the comfort of so many hours of talk with someone who really, truly understood what it was like to be so charismatic and yet so doomed.  Not since they had become inexplicably immortal.  Besides, there was a lot of catching up to do, especially for Jack #2, who had never seen Ianto die or visited the House of the Dead.

“I’m afraid,” said Jack.  “It's not like me, I know.  But I don’t want you to have to suffer everything I have suffered.  The despair and loss and longing.  I could save you all that pain.  The anguish.”

Jack smiled sadly. “But I want you to have all the love and pleasure I’ve discovered,” Jack paused. "The reunion. Realizing that I did love him, really and truly. He's delicious and the get-well sex was simply magical.  Like nothing we'd ever done before."

Jack brushed the hair from his face and kissed him. “ _You_ are delicious.  Did I tell you that?”

“More than once.  You too.”

“What will we do?”

“Let’s have another go while we’re deciding.”  They had three. 

Later, Jack rooted in their picnic basket. “Who left all these jammy dodgers?  Was someone stocking up for the Doctor?”

“Cookies, whiskey… cans of beans…. Bottled water.” He lifted out something else.  The “life knife,” and put it back. 

“It wouldn’t work on us anyway,” said Jack. “We’re set for weeks.  Weeks.”

Jack looked into his own eyes.  They had never had a reprieve like this, unless you counted being buried alive for two thousand years, and that had been rather unpleasant.  “Let’s take advantage of this chance to really talk.”

“Will they understand?”  They considered their surroundings, Ianto and John.

“They love us, and John will explain to Ianto,” said Jack. "Besides, who set up the forcefield for us and the tent?"

“I have to tell you about Grey,” they said at once. 

“Then we’ll have to figure out how to get back together.”  Their eyes met and filled with tears, but they shook themselves and started talking again. 

 


	5. A moonlit stroll

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ianto and John walk home after dinner. 
> 
> Ianto POV

Ianto thought he had prepared himself for every possible eventuality when the two Jacks came together, but going out on a dress-up date with John Hart while Jack shagged himself in the shelter of a force field had not presented itself as an option. 

Ianto had not let himself think about John while they were working against the 4-5-6. Trying not to shag the wrong Jack had been enough of a distraction. So, it was with some surprise at himself that he took John’s arm as they left the park.  He felt John’s start and the trembling in his fingers as he closed a hand over Ianto’s.

“This is new,” Ianto said.

“Thinking I’m not a complete waste of space?” John asked, cautiously squeezing Ianto’s arm against his side.

“No,” said Ianto.  “Although that is relatively new as well. This.  Dinner, conversation, a moonlit stroll. Learning about someone you’ve never had sex with.”  They walked a few steps in silence and Ianto had a sudden thought.  “We never have had sex, have we?” 

John made a smothered noise somewhere between a sigh and a laugh.  “I was going to ask what you take me for, but it’s actually a fair question.  No, Ianto, we never have had sex.”  It was only the second time John had called him by name, and Ianto stopped walking and stepped away, unsure whether to kiss him or run away. Neither seemed the right choice, and he stayed put.  

John paused, too, and Ianto felt John’s eyes, watchful and concerned.  The same concern John had shown while Ianto was so dreadfully ill, now mingled with something else he could not quite identify. Then John, tentatively, took Ianto’s hand, squeezed, and kept walking.  Ianto followed, grateful that John was there to take care of him.

“Will you show me how to make coffee?” John asked.  “My coffee is swill.”

“It is,” said Ianto, settling his palm more securely against John’s and letting John twine their fingers together.  “And I will.” 

“Thank you for a lovely evening,” said John.

“You’re welcome,” said Ianto.

“Can I ask you…” John began.  “Maybe?”

“Yes,” said Ianto. 

“Did he make you happy?  Was it what you wanted?”  They walked another step or two.  “Or did you always feel slightly disappointed? I wondered.”

Ianto _had_ always felt slightly uneasy in his relationship with Jack.  Like he was a tightrope walker without a net, but it wouldn’t do to say that, exactly, because Ianto had started out just looking for a bit of variety. It had taken until that evening to realize exactly how much his liaison with Jack had started out as curiosity and pheromones.  It wasn’t Jack’s fault Ianto fell in love. “I’m organized inside to love the people I’m with.  It's just who I am.  I always thought I was just a bit of a shag to him, until he told me otherwise.  He heard me saying something to Gwen.”  Ianto took a breath, and John squeezed his hand.  “He can’t help it, but it did hurt more often than it should have, maybe, if things had been different for him.”

John thought this over. “What do you mean by different?”

Ianto finally said aloud the thing he'd never been able to say before.  “He can’t die, and he’s terrified of getting too close to anyone.  He's lost too many people already.”

“He was always like that, though,” John said.  “He felt… not good enough to have love because he felt guilty for surviving.  Because Grey was dead.”

“It’s a bit sad for him, really,” said Ianto.  “It was hard to ask too much of him, considering everything.”

“No wonder he loves you, Eye Candy,” John said, but Ianto snorted.

“I could say the same thing about you,” Ianto said, “I saw you, when Jack told you he couldn't die.  I expected you to feel destroyed, levelled to the dust, but all you seemed to feel was concern.  You were worried about him, about how he felt and what he’d suffered.  Not one bit angry that he wasn’t dead, just sad and upset about the pain he'd suffered and would always suffer.”

John muttered a curse under his breath, “I’ve said those eyes of yours could kill me, but this is not what I meant. That’s a story for another time, Eye Candy.”


	6. A request

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> John asks Ianto for help finding the terrible creatures that destroyed the Boeshane Peninsula. Ianto agrees.
> 
> John can't afford any distractions, but he is embarrassed when Ianto finds some evidence of an attraction.
> 
> John POV.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Naked picture is a reference to Part 1.... Jack saved pictures of Ianto on his computer and John found them (and apparently printed out at least one).

John walked Ianto to the door and paused. He had been using the guest room, but he didn’t want to frighten Ianto, send him haring away just when his help was essential.  “Maybe I should say good night.”  Ianto turned smiling, as if John was joking, then stopped, keys dangling from his fingers mid-air.   
  
“The stained t-shirt must be worried at your long absence by now,” Ianto said.  “And it’s in need of your aid and protection. Imagine what might happen if you leave me unsupervised with it.”  John chuckled.  Ianto didn't say anything else unrelated to making sure John had towels and the right type of hangers for his suit and shoe trees for the new shoes.  John lay awake for some time, looking at the stars, wondering if Jack was doing the same.  In the morning he would have to ask Ianto a favor.  A huge favor. One he hated to have to ask because it was so dangerous.

John was surprised when Ianto said,  “Of course.  I told you I’d help with whatever you needed.”  Before John had told him what they would have to do.

“I didn't mean this, exactly,” John admitted. “I meant that 4-5-6. But I could use your help.  They’re dangerous,” John said, as they padded around the flat in pajama bottoms and robes and cozy wool socks.  John explained that he needed to track down the weakness in the creatures, the terrible creatures that had destroyed Jack’s boyhood home and his family on the Boeshane Peninsula.  

Ianto paled slightly, but renewed his offer.  “I didn't know you’d spent so much of your life looking after him.”

“We’re more alike than you think,” John said, then grew uncomfortable.  Ianto had closed a hand over his and set the other at the small of his back to correct his grip on the coffee machine.    “Erm, I had a wonderful time last evening, but we can’t afford any distractions just now, if you understand what I mean.” 

“I understand,” said Ianto, keeping his hands exactly where they were.  “This is a teaching moment. Budge over.”  John budged, and Ianto let the hand drop from John’s waist and adjusted his grip on the machine. “Do you feel the difference?” John agreed humbly.  “Good.  Now try yourself.”

John tried again.  “How’s this?” 

“Looks good,” Ianto said. “How’s the coffee?”

John sipped cautiously.  “Not swill, but not really like yours, either.”

“Good start,” said Ianto, patting him on the back.  “I’m proud of you.”

John, fleetingly, wondered why he did not feel resentful at Ianto’s tone, then shelved the thought since there were more serious things to think about.   

It turned out that there really were demons much worse than the one that had been imprisoned under the Rift and there really was a planet called H’ell, where everything was flame and torture was a sport. The demons enjoyed it, but when they escaped their usual bounds and tried to build ties with other worlds, things got ugly. 

Nothing more was said about sex between them, and John almost entirely stopped calling Ianto “Eye Candy” (or anything at all, saying… ‘ay-um?’ to get his attention) which Ianto seemed to find simultaneously refreshing and unsettling.  One morning Ianto, coming in to ask John a question, picked up a battered picture of himself, erect and wearing only a red cap, lying next to John’s pillow.  John had blushed redder than the cap.

“I’m somewhat mortified,” John said, knowing he could not claim he’d forgotten he had the picture.  “There’s no excuse.  I’m sorry.”

“Given the huge variety in your sexual experience, I should be flattered,” Ianto said.  John looked up, then and saw that Ianto was trying not to laugh.  “Unless you have a thing about hats.”

“Not hats, particularly, no,” said John, meeting Ianto's eye.  It was Ianto's turn to blush, but he schooled his features and changed the subject.  

“I have a question about that rift demon.  The one that froze Jack from the inside out. Would you happen to know….?” John hadn't heard that particular story, but he listened carefully to the tale of how Jack had destroyed the demon by giving any number of his own lives. 

John tried to formulate answer at first, but he suddenly remembered that Ianto was rather younger than himself, for all the awful things they had both seen.  John pressed Ianto’s arm.

“It’s… I’m frightened myself, lad,” he said.

“But where do they come from?”

“That’s one of the things we need to discover,” said John.

 


	7. Meanwhile -or- Accidental love scroll

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Athena and Freyja continue to consider whether John and Ianto should be immortal. Ganymede is cute and Odin reviews the film festival list. Nut winders why Athena and Freyja are spending so much time in each others' laps.

Athena sat by the scrying pool with Freyja taking notes on Ianto and John while Freyja embroidered an elaborate pattern of interlocking rings on a linen scarf. They sat with Freyja’s legs acting as a sort of writing desk across Athena’s lap. 

Nut appeared, suddenly it seemed, until they realized that Odin and Ganymede had been trying to get their attention for some minutes. 

“You seem quite fascinated,” Nut said, allowing them to gather themselves.  She glanced at the scrying pool, which showed John and Ianto making coffee and buttering toast.  Even she did not think it terribly interesting.

“We need the list for the new film festival,” Odin said.  “Thor said you’d taken it from your father.”  Zeus had annoyed the others by replacing every theme he did not like with Jean Claude Van Damme.  Athena rifled through her scrolls and handed one over.  “My Darling Freyja…” Odin began.

“Is that Norwegian?”  Ganymede asked archly, while Athena took the scroll from Odin and gave him the film list.

“ _Kitchen Stories?_ Marduk said it was uplifting in a claustrophobic sort of way.” Odin was pleased.  “I was getting a bit tired of Mediterranean vistas. They're well enough for a holiday, but not really homelike. And _Italian for Beginners?_  This is much, much better.”

“Is there a theme to this?” Athena asked. Freyja was scanning the other scroll, her face scarlet. 

 _“Together_?” Nut asked, “Is that a film?” She tried to ignore Ganymede, who was saying ‘darling Freyja’ in a sing-song voice.  It was difficult not to encourage this behavior as she found it oddly endearing.  All of them indulged him rather more than was possibly healthy.

“Looks like Scandianvian films from the turn of the twenty-first century,” Odin said.  “Luckily Od has gone off again now that Freyja is back.  He’s a stickler for not mixing the national cinemas.” Odin swatted Ganymede gently in the back of the head when he starting to sing ‘Oh my darling Freyjentine.’  “Stop that, you silly thing,” he said fondly.

“Ow!” Ganymede said. 

“Perhaps you could find us some ambrosia?” Athena suggested.  “And not the type with mandarins and pink marshmallows.  Father was horrified.”

“That does sound intriguing,” said Nut.  “What is a pink marshmallow?’

Ganymede opened his mouth to say something mocking.  Nut did not move, and he sidled off saying, “Two ambrosias, then.”

Odin wandered off muttering about Finnish cinema.  “I’ll leave you to your correspondence,” Nut said.

“Your darling?” Freyja asked.

“You are rather darling,” said Athena.

“As darling as the mortals?” Freyja wanted to know. 

“More,” said Athena, “I don't care for men that way, though, so perhaps it’s prejudice.”   

 


	8. Demons

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> John and Ianto find the creatures who destroyed the Boeshane Peninsula. It's worse than they thought.

John and Ianto stayed together, working, first at Torchwood and then off in the TARDIS, visiting worlds devastated by the demons and working closely together for long hours. The division of labor was natural and easy: John liked to be out and doing in the thick of things and Ianto preferred to get things done with a minimum of fuss where no one could see him.  John hated worrying about details and Ianto enjoyed organizing such things.  They bickered a bit, but gently, and both avoided discussing the fact that John had been sleeping with Ianto's picture under his pillow.

They divided the household chores and coffee making evenly, and after three weeks of intensive training, Ianto sipped a cup of coffee John had made and said, “This is delicious. Not as good as mine, of course, but genuinely drinkable.”

“All down to your teaching,” John said.

“Will you return the favor?” Ianto asked.

“It depends on what you want me to teach you,” said John.  “If you want to learn how to kill or how to make poison lipgloss, I’m not your man.”

“Fair enough,” said Ianto. “I wanted to know more about the time you came from, about the Time Agency, and about the Gallifreyans.”

“If you teach me how to manage a necktie and how to make those wonderful little cookies with the almonds on them.” John made a motion with his fingers in the shape of a cookie. "The ones you made when we ran out of Jammy Dodgers."

“That hardly seems fair,” said Ianto, trying not to smile while John waggled his fingers.

“I know it’s hard luck for you,” said John.  “I’m hopeless in the kitchen, but I loved those cookies.”

A few days later, they happened upon a scene of recent destruction.  It was like a medieval version of Hell.  Ianto stood transfixed and was nearly caught by a tongue of flame, but John snatched him out of the way, getting badly burned along one arm and both hands. His screams terrified Ianto, who grimly wrapped the charred fingers in ointment and gauze while he picked the ashy bits of his new and unstained t-shirt from the burned flesh of John's shoulder. 

“This is all closing up much faster than I would have expected,” Ianto said. "Not as fast as Jack, but still..." 

“I suppose I should explain a bit more about how exactly you survived that virus.”  Ianto stopped working, but John nudged him with a hand that had gone from charred and black to merely burned and blistered in a matter of a few minutes.  “Keep going before all those charred bits heal into my skin. It’s murder when they work their way out again.”

Ianto kept working while John explained.  “I can’t believe you tried all of that on yourself.  What if you had died?”

“I may well have done,” said John, seriously.

Ianto’s face took on the solemn somber quality that meant he was successfully fighting back tears. “I think all this is a bit beyond just the two of us,” Ianto said.  John gripped his arm, grunting in pain as his blisters popped open.

“I can ask someone for help, lad, but you need to stay out of sight,” John said.

“What’s with this ‘lad’ business?” Ianto wanted to know.

“I have to keep reminding myself,” said John.  “It’s not like it was with… er, Jack.  He took the lead a bit.  I was the lad, as it happened. ”

Ianto nodded. “I suppose I am the junior in this arrangement.”  He fished out the last bits of burned shirt. “At least you weren’t wearing the t-shirt. I don't know how you’d live without it.” John snorted.

“You keep away from that shirt, Eye Candy.  It’s important to me.”

Ianto shrugged and mopped at John’s raw palms. “I’d have expected to bicker more.”

John winced. “There’s less to bicker about when we want the same thing.”

“And you’ve not been distracted by treasure seeking or blondes?”

John flushed.  “That was a bit of a ruse. I was a total prat to you... all of you, that time.”

“Do I want you to tell me?” Ianto asked. "I mean, would it be an answer I'd want to hear?"

“Maybe," John said. "But I don’t know if I want to tell you just yet.”   


	9. Hillside chat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack chats with himself on the hillside. For the first time, someone really understands what he's gone through.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These are the two halves of Jack. One lived through House of the Dead. The other was made up from the bits and pieces leftover when Jack was exploded during CoE. In this AU, the original Jack went back to John Hart after House of the Dead and then John went to the Face of Boe for advice. The Face of Boe told John how to save Ianto and make a new Jack.

The chance to talk to someone who understood was better than any sex, even sex that felt better than any sex ever had before.  “I understand,” Jack said.  “I understand why you didn't say you loved Ianto.  Not there.  Not then.  Not in front of the 4-5-6, that child.  How could you?”

“I thought I could bring him back.  I had before, even before I was really in love with him.” Jack shuddered. "But it got me too quickly. And even if I had... what could I have done for him?"

“Even so. He deserved better than anything we could have given him, especially then.”  

“He didn’t think so, though.  He just loved us.  He would have been content with just a word of love.”

“He may want more now, though.  He may understand the difference.”

They stopped talking and kissed for a long while. “I can’t believe how good this feels. Have you felt alive, really alive like this, since waking up again?”

“Once or twice,” said Jack #2.  “The first time I made love to Ianto after John brought him back.”

“The first time?  You’ve had time for more?”

“Yes.  It was delectable.  Almost as good as you."  

"That good?"

"That good. And the moment I thought he could die and I realized that John brought him back for me.”  Jack smiled.  "I never felt so alive, full of despair and love and acceptance and shame all at once."

“You have it bad for him, don’t you? Worse than I ever did, which was bad.”

Jack smiled. “Of course I do.  How could you not?  John does, I'm sure.”

Jack went pale.  “I’ve said goodbye to him twice now.  I don't know how I’d bear the pain of losing him a third time.”  He wiped his eyes and the other Jack kissed him.  "I never told him I loved him while there was a possibility of a future, because there was never a possibility, and then... John."

“What's happened with John? He wouldn't tell me what happened between you, but something must have.”

Jack colored slightly. “I went to him... after House of the Dead collapsed the rift. I needed... And I know he’ll be there. I always feel like he’ll be there, no matter what I need. Not like Ianto, but too good to leave behind without a thought.  He deserves better, and I have come to feel much more for him than I had.”

Jack took his hand. “He's grown on me as well.  You should have seen him with Ianto. He took such care of him. You’re already upset.  Tell me about Steven and Alice. What happened?”

“I was just out of my mind after Ianto died…”

“I understand.”

Jack beamed at himself.  "You really do, don't you?"

They talked for hours and then lay, looking up at the stars.  "We can't pick just one of them, can we? Not after all they've done for us."

"Let's not worry about that yet.  I'm sure something will work itself out."  


	10. The Face of Boe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Face of Boe finds help for John and Ianto to contain the race that destroyed the Boeshane Peninsula. John is awed until he finds himself on familiar ground.

The Face of Boe had remembered some things from the times long gone, but he had forgotten the limitations of mortal men.  They were fragile creatures.  he had been like them once, so briefly, before he had become this thing. He thought he understood what they could do.  And the good wife was strong and clever and dedicated.

Still, the Face of Boe felt surprise when John Hart came back to him, to ask for help in being a Good Wife.  "I... er, we found them, but it's past... There's nothing we can do.  They're too powerful.  I'm sorry."   It took many minutes for The Face of Boe to recall what had been asked, what was necessary.  Then horror upon horror in recollection of the Boeshane peninsula.  How foolish had he been to ask so much of a mortal?  

The Face of Boe reached in memory and happened upon Stars and Sky, another lover of his youth, and one who could accompany him even now.

 


	11. Meanwhile -or- Introductions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nut comes to John Hart when the Face of Boe asks for help.

Nut helped when The Face of Boe asked for her aid.  She was a friend, knew the deep meaning of friendship. 

The Face of Boe introduced John to Nut.  “Help, please,” said the Face of Boe.  Nut smiled her sweet and mysterious smile.

“This one seems worthy, Enduring One,” said Nut. "Are you worthy?"

John said nothing, only stood quaking while she traced the side of his face with a finger.

“He is your choice?  The one I helped?”  Nut asked. The Face of Boe had forgotten that John had died briefly while saving Ianto, that John Hart had prayed to every god he could think of and that Nut had answered him. 

“Yes,” said the Face of Boe. 

“He is a very handsome man,” Nut commented.  “Most delightfully enticing in his person.”

“Thanks,” said John, finding himself on familiar ground. He was quite accustomed to being told he was a handsome man.  "You are breathtakingly beautiful." Nut colored and John felt the ground disappear from under his feet yet again.  How were you supposed to speak to an ancient deity?  “Ma’am, your reverence.”

“Nut,” said Nut, giving a gentle smile.  “And it is my honor to help you, lover of the Enduring One.  You will bring the Sweet One to meet us.”

"The Sweet One?" John asked, puzzled. 

“Ianto,” the Face of Boe explained.

John nodded, as if he agreed.  

“Ianto,” said Nut, as if she was tasting the name and finding it like honey on her tongue.  “You will bring him to meet me as well, for I helped him when you prayed for help, just as I helped you.”

“Yes,” said John because he could not think of anything else to say.  “I will.”

And Nut saw John’s confusion, because she was stars and sky and saw everything.  “You understand?”

“No,” John said humbly. “I do not understand what happened to us, what we have become. I know I prayed. I thank you for answering...”

Nut grew grave.  “I have made you like me, as best as I can. Never growing older, living long and long, healing from your wounds and illnesses and learning new powers as you continue.”

John nodded. “But not impervious to illness, I take it.  Eye—er, he still seems to be recovering from that virus.  He's still very thin and needs a great deal of rest.” Nut said something about sand and jackals.  The Face of Boe chuckled, for he enjoyed new curses.  “Is that cursing?” John wanted to know.  “If it is, I like it.” 

Nut rewarded John with a smile and kissed his forehead. “I give you wisdom to know your heart and wisdom to understand,” she said. John thanked her and she took his arm and stepped away to where Ianto lay sleeping.

"Wake up Eye Candy," John said, and Ianto sat up blearily and curled over with a moan.  John rested a hand on his shoulder. "There are some, er, people we have to meet."

"Gods... to go with the monsters?" said Ianto.  John looked up, startled.

Nut smiled.  "This one has the power of naming," she said.   "Sweet Ianto."

Ianto stayed close beside John at first, but the other gods were less frightening than Nut. Ianto, who was used to suppressing his emotions, did very well with all of them, although he annoyed Zeus by organizing the scrolls and thunderbolts neatly while the others were talking.  This made the Face of Boe smile when Nut told him of the visit. 

As they were leaving, Nut took Ianto’s hand and breathed into his palm. “Now you may heal,” she said.  At first Ianto thought she meant the lingering effects of the virus, but later he realized that she meant much, much more.

John suggested they make Nut some coffee and in a few days, there was an espresso station in Valhalla.

*+*+*

Meanwhile, the lords of the underworlds discovered that Lucifer had snuck off to a beach party and got lost coming back.  The Face of Boe frowned blackly.  “Parties?  Such wrongs for parties?”

Nut wept as she assured The Enduring One that she knew who to ask for help.


	12. Sleepless nights

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> John suffers from nightmares. Ianto does his best to help.
> 
> John POV

Ianto shook John awake. “John, wake up. It’s just a dream.” 

“Wha…?”  John thrashed, not quite understanding why his heart was pounding and he couldn’t breathe.  Ianto pressed a large, warm hand against John’s bare chest and made a hushing noise.  “Eye Can---ium? What is it?”

“You were screaming,” Ianto said, pressing John down more firmly again the mattress.  “It’s just a dream.”

John tried unsuccessfully to will back tears.  “No, it wasn’t.  I was dreaming about the day I found Grey.” 

“I’m sorry,” said Ianto.  John looked up, met Ianto’s eyes, and started to sit up, tears spilling down his face.  Their lips parted.  “I’d better go,” said Ianto, and fled. John sighed.  He remembered what that was like, the fear when some new part of yourself appeared without warning, some truth or understanding.  He'd wept himself when he realized that he would give himself to Jack, give up his virginity. 

John shakingly pulled on a t-shirt, another clean new one purchased under Ianto’s supervision. He found Ianto, weeping the same way he’d wept when he realized he was attracted to Jack, even though he didn’t like men that way. “Here,” John sat, bumping Ianto’s shoulder with an arm, handed him a steaming mug. “Drink this.”

“What is it?” Ianto asked as John settled down, an arm and a leg pressing against his.  John wished he wasn’t shaking so hard, so he could tell if Ianto stayed still because he wanted to or because John was still trembling so violently. 

“Tea,” said John. 

Ianto snorted, then sniffed.  “You made tea?  It doesn't smell like tea.”

“It’s mostly bourbon and lemon, but there is some tea in it as well,” said John, clenching his teeth to keep them from chattering. 

Ianto shrugged and sipped. “It’s good. Better than your coffee.” 

“It was never men for me, either,” said John, nudging Ianto gently with an elbow.  “Just him.”

“Did Jack ask you to look after me?” Ianto sipped again.

“Of course. Didn’t he ask you to look after me?” John countered, nudging him again. “Poor helpless thing that I am? Isn’t that why I found you in my bed?”

Ianto snorted, nudged him back.  “Of course not. He thinks you can look after yourself.”  He sipped again. “You’re shaking like a leaf.”

“That’s why the cups are only half full,” John said.

“I’ll sit with you until you fall asleep if you like,” Ianto said, pressing John’s knee.  

“I’d appreciate that,” said John, his heart melting.

John settled into his bed and Ianto sat next to him and promptly fell asleep against the wall.  John covered him with a blanket and nestled next to the warmth of his body.  He woke to find Ianto’s arm around him and closed his eyes again, feeling safer than he had since he and Jack had been trapped in the time loop.  Ianto was gone by morning.

The next night, John woke gasping, bathed in sweat, his heart thrumming frantically.  He blinked back tears and went to wash his face. 

“John?” Ianto’s sleepy voice surprised him.  Ianto had been sleeping like the dead ever since he'd first woken from the virus.  John went closer, and Ianto held up the covers.  “Come in with me?”

"Did I wake you? You'd usually sleep through this."

"Come in," said Ianto.  By the time John crawled into the bed, Ianto had nearly fallen asleep again, but he wrapped an arm around John’s trembling shoulders, and pulled him close, making the soothing noise John had made so often when Ianto was ill. 

“Was it the same as yesterday?” Ianto asked.  John nodded.

“I’m not,” his voice broke.  “I can’t…”

Ianto made a hushing noise and squeezed John against his own chest.  “It’s all mrphh…” he said, because he had fallen asleep. John nestled back and closed his eyes.  A few hours later, he woke up to find Ianto watching him sleep.  John never knew what came over him, but he reached up and kissed Ianto on one cheek and then the lips and then the other cheek.  Ianto blinked.

“Thank you for looking after me,” John said.

“My pleasure,” said Ianto, reaching up and touching his lips, then rubbing his fingers together.

“I’d better go,” John said and slipped away.


	13. Meanwhile -or- Goddess' book club

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The goddesses ask Ianto to join their book club. Meanwhile, John is invited for singing in the mead hall at Valhalla.

Nut sat down and had a long chat with the lords of the underworlds.  Hades eventually convinced Lucifer to take control of his demons. It didn’t change the fact that there were still horrible creatures in the universe, but it solved one small problem.

At the end of their evaluation process, Athena came and asked Ianto to join the goddesses’ book club.  “We’ve never asked a man before, but you’ll do. We were very impressed with your idea that immortality is a trust rather than a curse.”

“Isn’t it?” Ianto asked.

“For some of us,” Athena explained.  “Will you join our book group?” 

Ianto agreed without asking how he was the only man because it seemed the wisest thing not to ask about Ganymede, who appeared to always be hovering around making snide comments about second-wave feminism and battenburg.     

“You should know a few things,” Athena said.  “About the book group.  Before you join.”

Ianto nodded and repeated that _Pride and Prejudice_ was not a good model for powerful women, when prompted by Athena, and listened carefully when Lakshmi and Drupadi decided to teach him Sanskrit. 

After the book reading of _Harry Potter_ , Nut was called away and the goddesses, bored with the gods they knew and curious about the newcomers, all asked about Jack, except Freyja, who wanted to know more about John. Apparently, they had all spent some time watching Jack’s innovative sexual maneuvers.

“Which one will you choose?” asked Aphrodite, sipping a latte.  “The furry one is rather creative, but the other seems more disposed to faithfulness, at least with you.”

Freyja nodded, “You have a good rapport together, all of you.” 

“Why should he choose just one?” asked Drupadi.  “I had five husbands.” Ianto had never considered that.  “Build a home with the good wife and then allow the other to be part of your family when he comes back.  And you’re lucky they like each other.  I had to manage all that sexual business myself.”

Penarrdun barked a laugh into a cough and Freyja patted her on the back.

“I don’t think that last bit’s the issue, exactly,” said Ianto, “But thank you for helping me sort this all out in my mind.” Athena smiled upon him as she left, which was a rare thing.  

"They had a small film festival in Valhalla  Brigit Jones.  They don't like us to know when they watch the chick flicks," she said.  Ianto chuckled.

 

 


	14. Hillside encounter -or- Jammy dodger checkers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nut visits the two Jacks on the hillside.

After the book club meeting, Nut went to the hillside in Cardiff, a place she knew well, as she knew all of the earth.  There she found the two Jacks, talking and playing checkers with jammy dodgers. The Life Knife lay on the ground behind them.

“Enduring Ones,” she said.  The Jacks gave her their most beatific smiles.

“Who are you?” they asked as one.

“Nut,” said Nut.  “I am Sky and Stars. I am here to help if you are ready.”

The Jacks looked at each other and nodded.  “We can always use the help of a beautiful woman.”

Nut’s breath huffed out suddenly, and she realized that she had nearly laughed.  “You amuse me highly,” she said. “Teach me this game of yours and we will speak of many things.”

“The conversation of a beautiful woman is even better,” said the Jacks as one, moving to make room for her.

An hour later, Nut laughed aloud.  “You are most amusing, Jack Harkness,” she said, and the two Jacks smiled.  “Will you allow me to help you?”

The Jacks looked at each other.  “We’re a bit nervous.”

Nut placed a hand on each of their heads.  “You have no need to fear.  I will cause you no pain.”

“A little pain at the hand of a beautiful woman is never a problem,” said the Jacks, voices trembling.

“No pain,” said Nut, gently, kissing each of them in turn.  She knew that this man would have a great deal of pain soon enough, and she wanted to give him only peace.  Nut was the goddess of sky and stars, clouds and rain, and she had seen many things, but Jack's lovemaking had been something new when she watched him in the scrying glass.  

"You're so beautiful," Jack breathed. "So lovely." 

"As are you," said Nut.  "Show me how you love one another."

The Jacks sat up straighter and exchanged a mischievous grin.  "Let us love you," they said.

 


	15. A proper pashing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> John asks Ianto on another date. This time there is pashing, but John becomes uncharacteristically nervous.

John came back from Valhalla sporting a huge black eye, just as Ianto left the pavilion. John laid a hand on Ianto’s arm.  They touched frequently now, casually, Ianto noticed.  “How was it?”  John wanted to know.

Ianto smiled.  “Less interesting than yours, I’m sure.  Is that a black eye?”  He reached out.  “Hold still, something might be broken.”

John winced as Ianto prodded his eye socket, then shrugged.  “Jack certainly gives good value.  Better than that Colin Firth anyway.”  He caught the dark look on Ianto’s face.  “We really should get back.”

“All right,” said Ianto poking at John’s eye until John took his hand to stop him.  A passer-by would have noticed that the bruise had almost disappeared.  Ianto felt vaguely uneasy about this new ability, but decided to leave the discussion until later.

“I’d like to….” John began, pinkening when he realized he was holding Ianto’s hand. Ianto waited.  “Now that we’re done. I’d like to take you to dinner again. At a real place with tablecloths and no flirting with anyone, except you.”

“I’d like that, too.”  Ianto said.  They dressed in the same suits they wore on their first dinner out and walked together to the restaurant. Halfway there, John took Ianto’s hand and didn't let go.  They didn’t say or eat very much, but neither of them noticed because they were too busy savoring the feeling of their hands together.

This time, as they walked home, John squeezed Ianto's hand and called him “Eye Ca…Ianto,” in an unguarded moment and Ianto cupped his face in a hand and kissed him.  It was a splendid kiss and neither one of them compared it to kissing Jack, even in their minds.  Afterward, John leaned his forehead against Ianto’s shoulder to catch his breath.

“That was marvelous,” he gasped.  “Truly yummy.”

“Delayed gratification,” said Ianto, keeping one arm around John’s waist and stroking his hair with the opposite hand.  “Are you all right there?”

“Far better than that,” John said, and Ianto chuckled.  “You are delectable.”

“Should I call a cab?”

“No,” said John.  “I’d like to walk.”  It took a very long time because they kissed every few steps and either John or Ianto had to catch his breath each time while the other one held him up, but they didn’t mind. 

When they got back to the flat, it was very late and they shed jackets and ties then settled on the chesterfield, holding hands and kicking off their shoes. Their former usual habits of hurried tearing off of clothes seemed wrong somehow after the lingering walk and the previous months of easy companionship.  John reached over and kissed Ianto. His fingers quaked and he unbuttoned Ianto’s top three buttons with great difficulty.

“You’re shaking,” Ianto said, taking John's hands and kissing them, then the remains of the black eye, which faded into nothing.  John felt the melting sensation yet again.

“I’ve never …” John admitted.  Ianto knew he didn’t mean the sex, exactly, or even the vulnerability, because John did that fairly well with Jack.  “What if it’s… what if you don’t like it? Look at me.  I’m that terrified of disappointing you.” He looked up at Ianto helplessly. “I’ve never been so worried…”

Ianto was fairly sure he would like it, even if it was bad by their previous standards, but he understood what John meant.  He wanted their first time to be anything but terrifying, especially after the care John had taken of him when he was ill. “I’m knackered anyway,” said Ianto, pulling John’s arms around himself and settling against his shoulder. "Would you hold me a while?  I'd like that."

“I like this,” said John, kissing Ianto’s forehead.  “You are absolutely scrumptious.”

“Mrmphh,” Ianto said, because he was half asleep.

“Delicious,” said John again, settling back and closing his eyes.


	16. Hillside awakening -or- Jack reunited

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack awakens on the hillside, all in one piece. He finds John and Ianto curled up asleep on Ianto's couch. John and Jack discuss the technicalities of cheating and other limitations Jack has as a boyfriend.
> 
> Jack sees John and Ianto together and makes a difficult decision.
> 
> Jack POV

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally, Jack is reunited.

Jack woke, alone, on the bare grass under a blood red sky. Everything looked crisper than before. He drew breath, marveling at the scents of grass and earth and damp.  Something inside him felt whole and new again in a way he hadn’t felt in a very long time, not since the day he’d been caught in the Time Vortex.  He did not remember how he’d gotten there.  A strange handle fell from his chest as he sat up.

He looked to the right and to the left and found that he was naked and alone, covered in his coat, the one Ianto had found for him. 

“Ianto,” Jack murmured, remembering.  “John.” His blood ran cold when he realized what he’d done, and after they had done so much for him.  Then he shrugged, considered that it wasn’t that avoidable (he was, as everyone knew, completely irresistible) and that Ianto usually forgave him for everything anyway and if not, John always did. Besides, wasn’t it more like whacking off than cheating?

Using his wristband, he looked for Ianto and John Hart.  That showed him that he was inside a forcefield. Then he tripped on the pile of empty clothes.  Either he was only one man again, or the other him was wandering Cardiff naked.  It took some time to get the forcefield down.

Jack went back to the Hub and washed up, discovering a huge scar, like a cross, just over his heart.  He washed again and the scar was gone, but he never noticed because something that turned out to be half a jammy dodger was matted in his beard.  He didn’t remember having a beard when he met himself.  It wouldn’t do to show up looking like he’d been dragged in by a weevil, so he shaved.  He ate everything he could find in the galley that was not a jammy dodger.

By the time he arrived at Ianto’s flat, the one he’d visited each week for six months after Ianto died in his arms, it was just after dawn, and he half expected to find his other self, pleading to be forgiven.

Nothing would have prepared him for what he did find.  First of all, the place was spotless.  John and Ianto must have done a lot of work.  Second, John was in the middle of the living room, sleeping peacefully.

John Hart looked stunning in his rumpled suit trousers and dress shirt, one leg on the ottoman, the other on the chesterfield.  Two jackets and a tie were draped in the side chair.  Another tie hung over the coffee table.  Four shoes sat in a companionable pile.  Curled up partly on top of John and then sprawled over the chesterfield and ottoman, Ianto slept, his shirt halfway open to reveal his beautiful chest.  Jack wanted to start licking at Ianto’s collar bone and not stop until he reached those delightful toes.

Then Jack paused.  Ianto looked comfortable, as if he felt safe in those arms, and John never slept, just slept, with anyone unless he loved them.  Jack knew that John would step away, but would Ianto be safe? Or would he go back to his dark place the next time Jack hared off after the Doctor?  And Jack felt that he would have to go very, very soon.

On the kitchen counter were two letters to himself.  He opened the first and read “ _Don’t be an ass.  Tell him the truth.”_ The second was longer, explained Ianto’s death and his Jack's liaison with John, and ended with the same words:  _tell the truth._ He didn’t remember writing either letter, exactly, but when he put them back in the envelopes, it all came flooding back. He was both Jacks… all the various bits and pieces collected by the men who loved him and reassembled by the power of a goddess. Perhaps Angelo had been right, perhaps he was becoming something new.

A familiar sleepy noise caught his attention.  Ianto.  “Hush, Eye Candy,” John murmured.  “I need the loo.”  Ianto made another muffled grunt, and Jack’s heart melted.

It melted again when John came into the kitchen after using the loo, looking adorably rumpled.  “That was quite a show you put on,” John said.  “Tell me….”

“More like whacking off, I hope,” said Jack.  John rolled his eyes.  “Ok… I was excellent. Best shag I ever had.”  John’s face grew grave. “Several of the best, truth to tell, and the pillow talk was fabulous. I can finally see why I’m so irresistible.”

“What are you planning to do?”  John asked. “Now that you’ve confirmed what I’ve said about your shagging abilities? And your pillow talk?”

“I don’t know,” said Jack.  “I really don’t know. I haven’t felt this…whole in decades.  Not since…” John’s face clouded and he gripped Jack’s shoulder.  “It’s… I feel really alive. It’s like a whirlwind in here.” He pointed to his head. “Just crazy. I want to fly off and take things in. I can't stay put.”

“It’s been a month you’ve been playing with yourself, Jack,” John said gently.  “Longer for us.  The TARDIS said we’d be needed and brought us back here.”

“I guess that explains the beard. Where were you?”

“We went after those things,” John said.  Jack went pale.  “They’re being dealt with finally.”   It took some discussion, but eventually, Jack was satisfied that John and Ianto were not in terrible danger.

“And what else have you two been up to?”

“Dinner and a walk home,” said John.

“You’re blushing,” said Jack.  “So you were not just thinking of him as a casual sort of shag?”

"No," said John.  "Not casual at all." Ianto made another noise, the one he made just before waking.  “Take the guest room? I don’t want him to wake up alone.”  John leaned forward and kissed Jack’s cheek.  “Welcome back. I’ve missed you.”

Jack grabbed the back of John’s head and pressed their lips together.  When they were finished, John staggered slightly and Jack steadied him.  “I missed you, too,” Jack said.  Ianto made another sleepy noise.

“I have to go, love,” John said, squeezing Jack’s arm, kissing him once more on the cheek, smoothing his hair. “Thanks for the snog.”

“You’re welcome.  He’s….”  John paused to let Jack finish.  “He’s a great boyfriend. Please be kind to him.  I wasn’t always, and now it breaks my heart.”

John squeezed Jack’s shoulder and moved away. “You're going then?" Jack looked away. "Thank you for trusting me with him.”

“You know I wish things were different.”

“I know.”

Jack helped himself to a whiskey and then settled on the side chair in the guest room with a novel he’d never heard of, _Pride and Prejudice,_ in an exquisite leather binding.  It smelled the way books smelled when he had only died a few times. 

The door to Ianto’s bedroom clicked shut just as Jack finished chapter one, and he dimly registered happiness that Ianto and John would have each other’s companionship while they mourned his loss.  He would have expected to be sad if he had thought about it, but he was too busy enjoying the feeling of wholeness he’d awoken to. It engulfed everything, like the feeling he had when the Doctor finally arrived, and he left without saying goodbye to anyone.

 


	17. Naturally

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Naturally, Jack comes back the first time John and Ianto kiss.

**John**

Naturally, Jack swanned in just hours after Ianto had curled up in John’s arms voluntarily for the first time, reminding both of them how much they loved him. John had a thick skin where Jack’s sexual activities were concerned, but Ianto was organized to love the people he became physically intimate with. So John got a very sleepy Ianto into the bedroom while Jack was fiddling about with whiskey in the kitchen, to let him have a few moments to collect himself. 

“Erm,” John began, touching his lips, suddenly unable to think of what to say.  

“Is it him?”  Ianto said, pulling back the covers on his bed, revealing his favorite cozy flannel sheets.  John was about to answer when Ianto shed his dress trousers and shirt in a few deft motions and leaned against the headboard, in only his pants, which were purple to match his shirt and cupped him exquisitely in all the right places.  Ianto stood pulling off each of his socks in turn with the opposite foot as though being that stunningly perfect to look at was only natural.    

“Eye Candy you are gorgeous, simply breathtaking,” said John in a hushed whisper.  “Just beautiful. Better than the pictures.” Ianto paused, looked up from his socks.  “Yes,” said John. “It’s him. Er, just the one.”

Ianto nodded, seeming much less tearful and excited than John would have expected.  “Of course.  I wanted you to myself a while longer,” he said.  “Will you be coming into the bed or just watching me undress?”

John’s heart skipped a beat. “May I?”

Ianto rolled his eyes.  “Of course you may.”  He grabbed a robe.  “Give me a minute?  Maybe two?  I have to give him something. Do you want to tell him anything before he rushes off again?”

John shook his head.  “We’ve, ah, spoken.” He felt suddenly conscious of his age and didn’t want to undress in front of Ianto.  When he shed his trousers, he noted the state of his own pants—Ianto’s pants were nearly as gorgeous as he was—and left those off for good measure.

 


	18. Jack is needed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ianto speaks with a newly reunited Jack. Jack wishes things could be different, but he is needed elsewhere.

  **Jack**

Ianto looked more beautiful than Jack remembered and he said so. “Thanks Jack,” said Ianto.  Jack waited for him to rip open the robe and fling loving arms around him, or more, likely, close in for a passionate kiss. Jack was about to move in himself when Ianto lifted a ring from around his neck. Jack’s old wedding ring.  His insides swooped sickeningly. 

“Where did you get that?” Jack wanted to know, then his face changed.  “Ianto, did I ask you to **_marry_** me? Did I give you that ring?”

Ianto made a huge effort and managed not to sigh, although Jack recognized the look of resigned disappointment. “Yes, Jack.”

“I’ve gotten married before, but never to a man,” Jack stammered.  “I think I may still be married, in fact.” 

“Yes, I know,” said Ianto, the familiar hurt look settling more deeply onto his face. “You weren’t quite yourself, but I didn’t have the heart to say no to you.  I explained, didn't I?  I’m guessing you want this back.”

Jack took the ring and seemed to struggle for memory.  “Oh no, that was certainly myself, Ianto.”  He paused. “If I had been able to save you that day, I would have married you on the spot if you wanted, even though I knew you’d leave me eventually. Or I’d have to leave you.  But I would have that day.”

Ianto seemed moved.  “But now?  Do you remember the talk we had?”

“You said that you don’t know who you are or what you want.” Ianto waited. “And that I didn't know what I would want.”  Ianto nodded.  “You two haven’t?”  Jack winked.

“No,” said Ianto. “We haven’t.” 

“Do you want to?”  Ianto blushed.  “So you’re not thinking of this as mere dabbling, then?”  Ianto didn’t answer.  “It’s worth it,” Jack said.  “He’s a terrific boyfriend. Like you.”  He saw that Ianto was simultaneously grateful and dismayed that Jack genuinely, generously didn’t mind what they got up to as long as Ianto was happy. “You were a wonderful boyfriend.”

“Are you asking me to look after him?” Ianto asked.

Jack laughed.  “He can look after himself, Ianto,” he said. “Besides, you don’t need to be told.”

Ianto paused, tightened the belt on his robe and delivered the message that They had entrusted to him. “They want to see you the instant you’re back in one piece, they said. There’s something for you to do. They don’t know how long it will take, but it has to be you.”

“Did you really love me, Ianto?” Jack wanted to know.  It suddenly seemed terribly important because he might not be coming back soon. “These deathbed professions…”

Tears rose in Ianto’s eyes.  “Of course. I’ll always love you, Jack. You saved me when I was broken, but more than that….”

“I’ll come back as soon as I can, then.”  Jack paused.  “I wish I could…”

“Good,” Ianto cut across the apology.  “Whenever you can. You’ll always be welcome.”

“Take care of yourself, Ianto,” Jack said.  “I just…  I want you to be happy. I’m genuinely sorry I can’t be that person for you right now.”

They embraced, and Jack kissed Ianto’s cheek and turned away.

“Wait,” Ianto said, and then Jack was in his arms and they were kissing, love searing through both of them.  They broke apart, breathing raggedly, foreheads pressed together.

“Thank you Ianto.  I needed that. I wish… I wish I had something to offer you, that I could stay.”

“I know,” said Ianto, “but you have to go.”

“I do,” said Jack, grasping Ianto’s hand.  “Would you…”

“What?”

Jack thought of John.  “Be kind to him? I wasn’t, but he deserves better, especially after all he’s done for us.” Ianto crushed him in an embrace, and Jack was the one who pulled away.

“Thank you Ianto.” 

“You’re welcome, Jack.  Come back when you can.” 

Jack turned and went back to the Hub, grateful that he did not have to explain, to either of them, what he had been up to in that force field. Jack did not say “I love you” or ask Ianto to wait for him.  It wasn’t his way, and, he hoped, Ianto knew now why that was.


	19. Not just a casual shag

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ianto and John come to a romantic understanding.

**Ianto**

He waited until the door closed behind Jack to weep, then washed his face and went to the room where John was waiting for him.  John had fallen asleep and Ianto decided not to wake him.  He settled into the side chair with a book, dozing off himself after a few pages. When he woke, his mind was clearer than it had been in many months.

He would always love Jack, but he owed it to John and to himself, to explore what they had started to build together.  Even Jack seemed to think so.

John was still fast asleep when Ianto slipped under the covers.  “Eye-mmphh?” he murmured groggily.  Ianto’s heart softened at the edges.  John woke up suddenly, in more places than one, when Ianto nestled closer, his bare chest against John’s naked back. 

John pulled Ianto’s arm around him and clasped his hand. “Hey there. Are you all right?”

John glanced at the clock. “He snogged you right proper before he left?” Ianto made a noncommittal noise.  He worked his hand free to slip his arm around John’s waist and pull him closer, feeling a sort of tingling in his toes.  “Me, too.  Do you need some time alone? Should we give ourselves a chance to think things over?” Ianto’s first thought was that John wanted to let things down easily.  Then John clasped his hand again and Ianto felt their fingers trembling.

“Is that what you want?” Ianto asked.  “Time to think things over?”

“Not at all,” John said.  “But I don’t know how you feel, especially now you’ve seen him again.”    

Ianto pressed his lips against the back of John’s head. “I haven’t reconsidered anything between us, if that's what you mean.” 

“Have you had time for your bit of a cry, then?”  Ianto felt the slightest frisson of annoyance. Then John squeezed his hand, and kissed the back of it. “Me, too.” 

“You used to be a better liar.”  

“Fair enough. I’m simply trying to be sensitive to your emotional needs.”

Ianto snickered and shifted again.  “You’re not wearing anything?”

“I wasn’t happy with the state of my pants,” John said. “And these sheets are absolute bliss.” Ianto had a fleeting memory of Jack flinging those same sheets off and refusing to stay in the bed because he felt smothered.  “Have we delayed enough, do you think?  For maximum gratification?”

“I’m not sure,” said Ianto, kissing the back of John’s neck.  “I’ve never exactly done this, either. What about …?”

John interrupted. “We don’t need to decide anything too serious right now, do we?” 

“I’m not sure that’s what I meant,” Ianto said, confused and still a bit emotional from parting with Jack. 

John turned and took Ianto in his arms and kissed him.  “Is this like the tea? I feel that I needn’t ask if you liked that,” he said, pressing their hips together.  “as there is every evidence that you did.” Ianto gasped and held himself back with an effort and John hooked a leg around his thigh and rubbed against him, then brushed the hair from his face with both hands.  “But please tell me anyway.”

“I liked that,” said Ianto.  John nudged his chin and he looked up.  “Very much.  Would you…”  John stopped his mouth with a kiss.  They kissed for a long time, long enough for Ianto to forget what he was going to ask and then remember as they pulled apart, gasping for breath.  “Let’s…” John reached forward again, but Ianto put two fingers on John’s lips “Let’s stay in today,” he said, and John kissed his fingers and then his throat.   “Please, would you would stay in.” Kiss.  Ianto struggled but kept speaking. “With me.” Kiss.  “All day.”

John looked up and his eyes went dark.  “Oh,” he said, tucking the fingers of one hand into the waistband of Ianto’s pants and touching his face with the other.  “All day, is it? Good suggestion, Eye Candy.”  He stopped, suddenly uncomfortable.  “I’m sorry. I know it’s ridiculously rude to call you that, but you are just so gorgeous.”

“It’s all right,” said Ianto and bent and whispered John’s name, his real name, into his ear. “It’s been growing on me.” John made a strange noise in the back of his throat and closed his eyes.    

 

**John**

“I am beginning to understand what you see in this delayed gratification.” He reached forward and kissed Ianto on the lips, then nibbled them lightly as he’d been longing to do for months. “Ianto,” he whispered.  “I wanted you the first moment I saw you, but not nearly as much as I do now.”  Ianto had trouble forming words, and John took the opportunity to tug down his pants.  An inner voice about tea misgave him until Ianto moved to help. “My word, you’re magnificent.”

Ianto closed his mouth over John's and those beautiful hands roamed John's body. Their first time was (much) quicker than he expected, and John nearly died of embarrassment when he looked into Ianto’s eyes and said “I love you,” just as they both came. Ianto, who later confessed that he had longed to hear those very words  during most of his sexual encounters, was pleased, even though he knew it was just the pheromones talking.

“I’m sorry,” John said just as Ianto said, “That was bloody wonderful.” Their eyes met and they laughed.

“I’m glad you liked it.  I wanted you to…” said John.  

“I loved it,” said Ianto, pulling the covers up around them. “And I know it was just the pheromones talking. But thank you for taking care of me when I was sick.  I don't think I ever did."

“You were so ill,” said John, pressing their foreheads together and cupping the back of Ianto’s head in a hand as though it was the most natural thing in the world.  

Ianto thought this over.  “Let’s have a wash and then make breakfast.”

John saw an opportunity. “Will you let me try again? Make up for my prior inappropriate groping while you were in a vulnerable state?” Ianto smiled and shook his head. 

“I don't think I've quite forgiven you for that, but it reminds me of something. What I’d like,” he said shyly, “I’ve never seen you in your full glory.”  John colored and pulled back, thinking about his laugh lines and the bit of sag on his bottom and certain paunchy areas around his middle.  Jack had commented on them more than once.  What would Ianto think? Involuntarily he reached for the slightly wrinkled skin by his eyes. “What’s wrong?” said Ianto, kissing him at the corners of his eyes and then on the wide scar around his wrist, which began to fade visibly under his touch.

John pulled his hand away. “Don’t get too carried away with that new healing power. I earned that scar. It’s a symbol of my atonement.”  He gathered the covers closer.   “I have very little shame, but I do have some.”  Ianto tugged at the sheet and John pulled back.  Ianto eased nearer, kissed him and tried again. “I’ve…. compared to you, I’m an old man.”

“You have been very good to me,” said Ianto, uncovering John’s chest and stroking it lightly with the pads of his fingers, avoiding the many scars.  “You are a very handsome man,” Ianto said, bending forward to kiss John’s nipples, then his lips.  He pushed the sheet lower while John was trying to catch his breath, then kicked the covers off both of them.  “Very handsome indeed. I think we’ve some work to do before that wash.”

“Work?” said John, startled as much by the word as the smouldering look on Ianto’s face. “Is that what you call it?”

“Or play, if you prefer,” said Ianto. 

“Oh, it’s much more serious than play, for me, certainly,” said John, crawling on top of Ianto.

 


	20. Meanwhile -or- Jack meets the gods

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack goes off to do what the gods have asked of him. Nut helps him once again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This refers to some of the "meanwhile" chapters in Part 1

Jack supposed it could have been much, much worse. Odin and Ra had invited him to do a series of workshops on innovative lovemaking techniques.  That had been intensely uncomfortable for the few minutes it took for Nut to appear and whisk him away.

“Enduring One,” she said to him, and Jack felt his insides shimmer.  That moment when Ianto refused to speak his true name flashed in memory of mind and body and soul, and Jack trembled.

Odin and Ra began to apologize, but Nut interrupted.  “Welcome.”  And the eldest of the gods appeared.  Odin squeaked and stepped back, until Ra steadied him.

“Thank you,” Jack said, as the awe and wonder of the moment washed over him.  His face lit up with love and wonder as it once had when meeting a pterodactyl or a sea creature from beyond the rift.

“You approach all with love,” said Nut.  “That is a rare thing.”  She took his hand, and Jack felt something incredibly familiar in that touch.

“You would know,” Jack glowed at her, then looked at their hands.  “This feels very familiar.”

Nut’s mouth turned up slightly at the corners.  “I helped you regain yourself.” Jack made love to Nut because it seemed like the thing to do, and she rewarded him with a smile and a kiss on the forehead that felt more sacred than a benediction.  “You will visit the future and the far beyond, the times Yet To Be. And I will be a friend to you.  You will remember me, as you remember the Sweet One and the Good Wife.”  Jack smiled, and pulled Nut close for another kiss.

“I will,” he said, not understanding what he had just promised.  

After he woke, Nut brought him to visit the Fates and asked what would happen between him and Ianto and John.

“You will go back as soon as you can,” they said.  “And then you will decide.”  He didn’t realize until later that they did not think the decision was simply his to make. That John and Ianto would also have the choice.

Jack thought he would go straight back to Ianto, but Ganymede came with a message. The Doctor needed him, and Jack, ever hopeful that he could still be fixed, went away among the stars for a time. 


End file.
